WELCOME – Civil Liberties Australia

Sue Neill-Fraser, in Risdon Prison for 9 1/2 years of a 23-year sentence for murdering her husband, has won her case in the Supreme Court of Tasmania for a new appeal before three senior judges, who may be drawn from outside the island state. Civil Liberties Australia was instrumental in securing the new law in Tasmania, passed in late 2015, that allowed her to appeal. She should be released from jail now,CLA believes, anticipating that she will be found to be as completely innocent of the crime as she has always said she was

A case in the High Court crucial to freedom of speech in Australia will be heard in the next fortnight. Michaela Banerji was sacked for tweeting anonymous criticism of the Immigration Department when she worked there. Was the sacking fair, or does she have a constitutional right to anonymous comment? Two million Australians – and a general right to free speech – await the answer, Kieran Pender writes.Read full article

CLA on Australia Day 2019 asked SA Attorney-General Vickie Chapman for a Royal Commission into 400 convictions over 30 years based on faulty forensic evidence. She refused. But, the situation is identical to the ‘Lawyer X’ issue in Victoria, where a Royal Commission is inquiring into “illegal” evidence accepted by the courts. Here, author Andrew Urban and SA legal academic Dr Bob Moles explain why she must change her mind so that she abides by the rule of law. Read full article

Standards in public life continue to shrink as politicians’ words and actions fly in the face of reality. ‘Urgent’ for a Minister is when you’re doing something for him, not when he is expected to act; a new petitions process will deliver more gloss and grandstanding for pollies, and no better outcome for the people; new trade deals being negotiated in secret are sure to disadvantage most citizens; and MPs from each major side reach to new heights of hypocrisy as they claim to support “freely and fairly” reporting on national security.

The chair, Andrew Hastie, and deputy chair, Anthony Byrne, of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security have issued a truly historically hypocritical media release in which the parliament’s most repressive committee claims it stands for ‘the ability to report freely on national security’ as ‘vital to our democracy’. What about on-water incidents with boats and refugee claimants? What about ASIO reporting restrictions? What about the Witness K/Collaery secret trial at the moment? We haven’t heard a word from either of the two PJCIS heavies standing up for the media's right to report ‘freely’ on those issues.

An inquiry of fundamental importance to prisoners and prisons throughout Australia is under way in Queensland. The state government has charged the Qld Productivity Commission with taking a cold, hard, financial and performance look at how jails are operating. The answer, from their first draft report, is extremely poorly. Prisons in the state are overcrowded massively, they don’t rehabilitate prisoners (50% are back within two years) and they cost huge amounts of money now, with projections suggesting $6 billion more within a decade…and that’s just for new buildings, not running costs. If Qld can find a cost-effective remedy, the solution will ripple round Australia nearly as quickly as a Trump tweet.

Forums between civil society organisations and the government departments provide excellent opportunities for robust, two-way exchanges of thoughts and opinions. The February 2019 DFAT forum saw some sharp exchanges as NGOs tried to hold the government accountable for seeming human rights abuses. But, as CLA Director Eloise McLean reports, much responsibility for how Australia respects human rights now rests with the ‘action’ agency, the Department of Home Affairs.

Sometimes we forget that those who serve us 24/7 might also be doing it tough. Two recent major reports into the health/mental health and ‘injury’ management systems of first responders have raised serious and troubling questions about the quality and integrity of internal management and compensation arrangements, particularly in the NSW Police Force. Former Detective Sergeant Terry Flanders explains why ordinary citizens should be worried about and stand up for all ‘first responders’.

Is smoking worse than fascism? How do you measure and balance between different claims to society-harming activity? These are the issues Mark Jarratt – who chooses to smoke – explores in this article calling for the many to dispense with apathy and think about controlling what he sees as the real danger to Australian society, group-think engendered and controlled by a self-selected cadre of fervid crusaders for whom even the Turkey solution of the past might not be enough.

Students should learn about human rights, in schools and universities, as an integral part of their education, not necessarily only as a standalone subject, a major internatinal human rights conference heard recently. More than 400 hundred human rights experts representing 50 countries attended the 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education at Western Sydney University in November 2018. CLA member Sophie Bouris reports on the highlights.

The South Australian Attorney-General and Deputy Premier, Vickie Chapman, has rejected CLA’s call for a full inquiry into about 400 criminal cases in the state over about 40 years that were corrupted by malfunctioning forensic science organisation and by the concomitant errors of police, prosecutors and the judicial system. Any issue would be handed on a “case-by-case” basis, she said. However, the problem in SA was systemic and deeply entrenched: it colours how justice operates in SA to this day because key actors of yesteryear have risen to prominent positions now.

Members are advised that nominations have been called for the vacancies on the Board of Directors relating to this year's eAGM. Elections for the Board are conducted every two years. A guide to duties/time/effort required of Board Members is available to assist in any consideration to stand.Read full article

The Tasmanian AG has instantly rejected the CLA Australia Day call for an inquiry into the state’s legal system in 2020-2021. 'Nothing to see here, the system's perfect,’ she suggests. See CLA AUST DAY LETTER